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Mugello testing day 2 - Selected driver and team quotes

Mark Webber, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: XPB Images

Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull


Position 3 - Time: 1:21.825 - 64 laps

“I’m happy to be here. Unfortunately we don’t have this track on the calendar. It’s an incredible circuit with a lot of high-speed corners. It’s what you hope for in a Formula One car, because you can really feel the downforce. Once you get into the rhythm it’s really enjoyable.

“We’ve got a lot of laps to get through here. We’ll be trying to sort out a lot of the items we’ve been testing at previous events and things we possibly want to use in the future. The really important thing from here will be the analysis after this test to see what happens to the car.”

Mark Webber, Red Bull Racing
Mark Webber, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: xpb.cc

Mark Webber - Red Bull


Position 4 - Time: 1:21.997 - 54 laps

“The track finally dried out today and the Tuscan weather kicked in at last, so we managed a few laps in the end. We had absolutely truck loads of stuff to go through, but so far so good. Mileage is so limited these days it was good to be in the car again; this test has been very useful.

“I think for Barcelona we will largely keep pushing with what we have done already, although I’m sure there will be small details that will change.”

Jean-Eric Vergne - Toro Rosso


Position 6 - Time: 1:22.422 - 65 laps

“In the short time I have been in Formula 1, I would say this was the best day’s testing I have done: We had no problems, we got through a lot of items on the job sheet and, as a first impression, the new elements we tested seem to work well. Daniel still has more things to try tomorrow and if we can put all the best elements of this test together, then I am hopeful it could represent a step forward in Barcelona. The team also worked well, with the mechanics having to change a lot of parts in a short space of time to get the job done, so overall, a positive day.”

Michael Schumacher - Mercedes


Position 8 - Time: 1:23.404 - 144 laps

"I am very pleased with our testing day here. In the past, I have done so many kilometres on this beautiful track, and today I think I can say I was adding quite some more. Unlike yesterday, we were able to gather really a lot of data, and like this we are learning more and more about our car which is absolutely positive.

Michael Schumacher, Mercedes AMG Petronas engine cover and rear wing
Michael Schumacher, Mercedes AMG Petronas engine cover and rear wing

Photo by: xpb.cc

“Of course we also tested some new things, which I would not want to go into detail about, so it is definitely worth coming here at this stage of the season. I am really happy with how things are proceeding with our car and our team, and I am convinced we have a good basis for the final day of the test tomorrow."

Charles Pic - Marussia


Position 9 - Time: 1:23.982 - 46 laps

“The dry conditions this morning meant we were able to really make some good progress with the set-up programme. The track was a little bit damp at first, but it got better and better all the time as the temperature started to increase. I was very happy with the direction we were taking and we got some good data from the car.

“The developments we have here are a definite step forward and I think because of our programme there was quite a lot more to come from the package. Although my running is complete I will stay here for the final day tomorrow as there is a lot we can continue to understand from the car to prepare us fully for Barcelona next weekend.”

John Booth, Team Principal: “On a positive note we have seen very clear signs that we have made a good step with our upgrade package, so it is a shame that our progress has been hampered again this afternoon. Yesterday was similarly frustrating - for all of the teams actually - but Charles has at least been able to attack most of his programme elements. We will therefore be hoping for a more consistent day tomorrow so we can even up the balance in terms of mileage and feedback to ensure we are as prepared as possible for when we field the full upgrade package in Barcelona.”

Vitaly Petrov - Caterham


Position 10 - Time: 1:24.312 - 112 laps

"I have very good memories of Mugello as this is where I won in F3000, so coming back is good. I'm not sure the track is right for today's F1 cars - you get very close to the walls and it's maybe a bit small for the cars now, but it's still a good challenge putting together a quick lap. I think we can be pleased with what we have achieved here today. The car has run faultlessly all day and we have completed everything we targeted in today's runplan.

Vitaly Petrov, Caterham F1 Team
Vitaly Petrov, Caterham F1 Team

Photo by: xpb.cc

“This afternoon we started running some new parts and even though it's too early to make any judgements on what sort of step forward they give us, I can say the new rear wing we tried immediately felt like it was giving us more downforce. The car's balance felt better and there was more grip, so that's definitely a step in the right direction. Hopefully we can have a similar day tomorrow and give ourselves a good chance of making more progress when we're back racing in Spain next week."

Jody Egginton, Caterham F1 Team Chief Engineer: "Day two in Mugello has been a good one for the team. The weather is obviously a vast improvement over yesterday and with Vitaly in the car we managed to complete 112 laps, helping us catch up with the time we lost on track yesterday with the rain. This morning we ran through a program on a variety of tyre compounds that gave us the chance to evaluate the new parts we put on the car in the afternoon.

“From that we have generated a very good amount of data the team on track and back at the factory can use to accurately assess what we have gained with the updates which include new bodywork, a new rear wing and a look at a revised exhaust layout. Tomorrow we will be looking to replicate the same sort of program with Heikki in the car and with the forecast looking good for the last day of the test we want to be able to leave Mugello having completed everything we planned."

Timo Glock - Marussia


Position 12 - Time: 1:24.499 - 37 laps

“Not a great second part of the day as our problems cost us half of the afternoon session. I had to get used to the track quickly, which was not easy as there are a lot of blind corners. We did some basic set-up work for the last hour and a half which I was happy with, but we have a big programme for tomorrow now and I hope it will be a trouble-free day for me.”

Paul di Resta - Force India


Position 13 - Time: 1:24.749 - 14 laps

“We had a few issues today which kept us in the garage and meant that we couldn’t get through much of our programme. The guys spent a lot of time changing things on the car just before lunch and I only managed to get back out for a final run at the end of the day. You always want more laps, but these things can happen and hopefully we can have a full day of running tomorrow to get through our programme and learn what we need to learn.”

New exhaust on the Force India, Paul di Resta, Sahara Force India Formula One Team
New exhaust on the Force India, Paul di Resta, Sahara Force India Formula One Team

Photo by: xpb.cc

Jakob Andreasen, Chief Engineer: “It’s never nice to spend so much time sitting in the garage, but we had a few reliability concerns that we needed to resolve before we continued running. We suspected the issue was related to the hydraulic system of the car so changed that as a precaution. At the same time we chose to make the most of the downtime by bringing forward the engine change, which had been planned for the end of the session.

“It has been a tough day for the guys in the garage, but they did a great job to get the car out for the final half hour and give Paul the chance to complete a handful of laps in preparation for tomorrow. Due to the lack of running for Paul, he will now stay on for half a day tomorrow, before Nico takes over in the afternoon.”

Bruno Senna - Williams


Position 14 - Time: 1:24.842 - 100 laps

“It was a good day for us which we completed without incident. We gained a lot of information from our runs and have some good knowledge to carry forward into tomorrow. We aim to continue improving and to be competitive on the final day. Mugello is an awesome track. It’s really fast and physically challenging.”

Mark Gillan, Chief Operations Engineer: “We had an extremely busy second day with Bruno completing almost our entire scheduled test programme. We evaluated a detailed aero and mechanical test matrix and have learnt a great deal. The forecast for tomorrow looks fine and we are looking forward to another productive day.”

Red Bull rear wing
Red Bull rear wing

Photo by: xpb.cc

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